What It Means To Be An American Essay

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for

What does it mean to be an American? In my eyes to be an American means to have privileges, rights, and freedom. America isn't perfect, but it is one of the only countries that have rights given to people of different diversities and gender. America does not have tremendous poverty. Instead we have choices given to us by the people who fought and died for the American people. Without George Washington and the other patriots who planted the first seed in the ground and help plant the American nation we live in now who knows what America would be like now.

Many people dream about being an American. They dream because they envision America as the land of peace and prosperity. But is it? At times it has been, and at times its not. It is hard for the United States to be correct all the time because they have been unwilling designated as the "World Police". Throughout history there have been examples politically, economically, and socially, where being an American is rewarding and times where it is embarrassing. To be an American means progress. We evolved from a world ruled by white men to a world of equal opportunity.

Do you consider yourself to be an American? Being an American is not just having a citizenship or living in America it is much more. America doesn’t just allow the people inside the country to stay, but America gives everyone a second chance at life and give them more opportunities. America has had a long strive for freedom and independence, making the opportunity of living here that much more special. In this essay I will be reading to you my thoughts of what it means to be an American. Bravery, honor, hope, and the freedom and equality of all Americans are the topics that I feel are most important.

What it means to be American? Everybody you ask this question to will have a completely different response. Some responses might have similarities but none will be exactly the same. In the beginning of the year my response was “To be an American means having a rich history, having opportunities to better ourselves, and having freedoms.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities or freedoms. Native Americans, who are indigenous, dealt with having their freedoms taken away, less opportunities even though they had rich history in this land before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for

Definitions of what being an American have changed drastically over time. People seem to have forgotten what it really means to have freedom, life, and liberty. Today’s new definition is and will probably always be so much different than what your grandparents or maybe even parents grew up with. Trump riots are a perfect example of how things have changed over time. Back in the day, people just dealt with what had happened, and moved on.

Many people dream about being an American. They dream because they envision America as the land of peace and prosperity. But is it? At times it has been, and at times its not. It is hard for the United States to be correct all the time because they have been unwilling designated as the “World Police”. Throughout history there have been examples politically, economically, and socially, where being an American is rewarding and times where it is embarrassing. To be an American means progress. We evolved from a world ruled by white men to a world of equal opportunity.

How does our generation define what it means to be “American”? Being in America gives us the freedom to become who we want to be and, to do what we want to do. We are using technology to get places or to make a point. We want to support things we don’t know anything about. For example, Black Lives Matter. I’m not saying I know everything about it but I know enough. So one day as I was scrolling through Facebook I came across a post. The post was about a 9/11 “Never Forget” picture. A teen one or two older than me had said something along the lines of “When is our never forget day?” along with the hashtag “#Blacklivesmatter”. I got pretty upset by that. Not to mention it was said on 9/11. I was thinking about how they have a whole month to

The soil of the middle-east stained with the blood of our American soldiers just so we can not take advantage of our right to vote. Though sometimes questionable, America's overall image portrayed to other countries is an honorable one. America is known for its democracy and as well as being a land of opportunities and many freedoms. America's assortment of ethnicities and cultures is proof that our country is a desirable one. Wars are being fought at this very moment to defend these freedoms.

Using the Gibb categories give three examples of defensive and or supportive behaviors that Ben and Katie used in the film.

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

Since this great country was first established many intuitive minds have tried to answer the question; "What is an American". This country is full of individuals of many backgrounds, and diversities and each person has a different opinion on this question. In my opinion, an American is someone who values freedom and equality and pursues the "American dream." Every American exercises these rights and these are great adjectives to describe our country. Each of the seven readings, and the one image I compiled help mold this broader definition into a more precise description of an American.

Although the present day American is a totally a different person, at the close of the Revolutionary War the same individual was a European immigrant impacted by the nature of the American continent. In St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s perspective, an American is a race that results from a mixture of Swedes, Dutch, French, Irish, Scotch, and Englishmen (48). This race consists of unique type of people who are not governed by laws as strict as they experienced in Europe. They are a breed of people who had no home and no country in Europe. This paper discusses what the American was thought to be, in view of St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer.

During the early 1900’s, The United States government was ruled by white men that have captivated the American patriotism. The patriotism of the American society was greatly enchanted by the white superiors wanting to establish a strong American values and culture. The era of the time gave little hopes and dreams of living in a land that its purpose was to give the opportunities to all newcomers. However it was a different scenario among the Mexican American community. The Mexican communities within the United States are force to adapt to a new tradition due to the defeat of Mexican-American War. The Mexican government efforts to persuade its people to leave the United States were no effect because of their disloyalties to its government. From here on the Mexican-American community in the United States will decide its own self recognition of identity.